FBI Warns California Genetics Company Likely Shares Americans' Health Data With China

Chinese government uses health data to surveil and capture Uyghurs

The FBI says a genetics testing company with tens of millions of 
dollars in federal contracts is most likely providing Americans' 
health data to China.

The agency told Los Angeles County officials last week it had 
obtained "very concerning information" about Fulgent Genetics, a 
California-based firm founded by Chinese-American billionaire Ming 
Hsieh. Los Angeles County sheriff Alex Villanueva said the FBI 
warned him and other county officials that Fulgent likely shares the 
health data it collects with the Chinese government.

U.S. officials have expressed concerns over state-sponsored 
harvesting of genetic data. China has collected DNA samples of 
Uyghurs, a repressed Muslim minority group, for surveillance 
purposes. The authoritarian regime is also building massive 
databases of genetic data from across the globe, which would give 
China an advantage in developing treatments for future pandemics.

Villanueva called for the county to cancel contracts with Fulgent to 
test county employees for COVID-19 and to keep track of their 
vaccination records. He did not say whether the FBI suspects Fulgent 
of proactively providing the data to China, or whether the company 
turns it over to comply with Chinese law.

A Fulgent spokesman said the company operates independently in China 
and "does not share personal data of any kind with the Chinese 
government." Another representative for the company said she is 
unaware of any outreach from the FBI to Fulgent. The FBI did not 
respond to a request for comment.

Fulgent has likely collected genetic data on millions of Americans 
through contracts with hospitals as well as local, state, and 
federal agencies. The company was awarded a contract in 2016 by a 
hospital network that operates within the U.S. Army to provide 
genetic tests for personnel and their family members, according to 
the company's financial filings. The CDC awarded a $35.8 million 
contract to Fulgent in March to sequence coronavirus variants. 
Fulgent provides coronavirus testing for numerous school districts, 
including New York City and Las Vegas, and has contracts with the 
Utah Department of Health and the Houston Health Department.

Villanueva pointed to Fulgent's privacy policy as one cause for 
concern. According to the policy, Fulgent can transmit medical 
information collected in the United States to other countries, 
including those with less stringent data protection laws. China 
passed a national security law in 2017 requiring companies to grant 
access to data upon request from the government. The law has stoked 
international concern that Chinese authorities will misuse the data 
for espionage or surveillance.

The U.S. government put two subsidiaries of the Chinese gene 
harvesting giant BGI on an export blacklist last year because it has 
partnered with the Chinese military to collect genetic information 
on Uyghurs. Villanueva said Fulgent has worked with BGI and other 
Chinese companies linked to the state's surveillance apparatus, 
including Huawei.

Republican lawmakers expressed outrage that the federal government 
has awarded contracts to Fulgent.

"The Chinese Communist Party has tried to steal the intellectual 
property and personal health information of Americans for decades. 
Not a single taxpayer dollar should go to a company that puts 
Americans' health records at risk," said Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), 
a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), the ranking member of the House 
Foreign Affairs Committee, commended Villanueva for drawing 
attention to the FBI's warning about Fulgent.

"Companies like Fulgent are required by Chinese law to turn their 
data over to the CCP and should not have access to Americans' 
sensitive health data," McCaul told the Washington Free Beacon.

Founded in 2011, Fulgent has expanded its business in China in 
recent years while forming ties to a politically connected American 
think tank considered soft on China, the National Committee on 
U.S.-China Relations. Fulgent formed a joint venture called FF Gene 
in 2017 with Chinese companies Xilong Scientific and Fuzhou Jinqiang 
Investment. Fulgent said the partnership would help the company 
"solidify our foothold in one of the fastest growing genetic testing 
markets in the world."

Fulgent is also a donor to the National Committee on U.S.-China 
Relations, a corporate-backed nonprofit that facilitates diplomatic 
relations between Washington and Beijing. Ming Hsieh, Fulgent's 
founder and CEO, serves on the committee's board of directors 
alongside executives from Disney, Apple, and other companies vying 
for access to China's market.

Hsieh was the guest of honor at the committee's annual gala earlier 
this month. The chairman of the committee, former Treasury secretary 
Jack Lew, introduced Hsieh, and Chinese ambassador Qin Gang shared 
remarks while former Transportation secretary Elaine Chao presented 
Hsieh with an award.

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations also maintains access 
to a Biden White House official, a spokesman for the organization 
previously told the Free Beacon. Kurt Campbell, the head of the Asia 
desk at the National Security Council, served on the committee's 
board until last year.

Chinese government officials have used events hosted by the National 
Committee on U.S.-China Relations to criticize U.S. government 
policy regarding China, often without pushback from the committee.

Lew hosted an event in February for Politburo member Yang Jiechi, 
who called on the United States to "stop meddling" in China's 
affairs by criticizing the regime for its human rights abuses in 
Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.


https://freebeacon.com/national-security/fbi-warns-california-
genetics-company-likely-shares-americans-health-data-with-china/